The Pauline Epistles (06NT520/01) Paul S. Jeon, Ph.D. August 28 December 11

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1 The Pauline Epistles (06NT520/01) Paul S. Jeon, Ph.D. August 28 December 11 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 1 COURSE PURPOSE 1. To develop a working knowledge of Paul and his letters 2. To refine our ability to outline and interpret Paul s letters 3. To reflect on personal and ministerial applications of Pauline theology COURSE DESCRIPTION 1. The course consists of two main sections: a. The course will begin with an overview of Paul, highlighting his calling as an apostle. The first part of the course will also consider the center of Paul s theology. b. The course will then proceed to a discussion of all the Pauline Epistles with the goal of highlighting consistent Pauline themes that run through all his letters. 2. The course is intended to be an introductory course: the instructor assumes that the participants have little or no exposure to Paul s letters. COURSE ASSIGNMENTS 1. Outline select portions of each epistle according to the corresponding date Complete a 12-page digest of Herman N. Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology or Geerhardus Vos, Pauline Eschatology. 3 REQUIRED COURSE TEXTS 1. Paul Jeon. Introducing Romans.. Living Intentionally before God: Reflections on 1 Thessalonians.. Empowered by Joy. To Exhort and Reprove: Audience Response to the Chiastic Structures of Paul s Letter to Titus. True Faith: Reflections on Paul s Letter to Titus. 2. Herman N. Ridderbos. Paul: An Outline of His Theology. 3. Cornelis P. Venema. Getting the Gospel Right: Assessing the Reformation and New Perspectives on Paul. 4. Geerhardus Vos, Pauline Eschatology. 5. Stephen Westerholm. Perspectives Old and New on Paul: the Lutheran Paul and His Critics. 1 2 Peter 3: See sample outline below. 3 Use 1.0 line spacing, 1-inch margins, Times New Roman font (size 12). See sample page below. 1 P a g e

2 RECOMMENDED COURSE TEXTS 1. John M. G. Barclay, Paul and the Gift 2. Brandon D. Crowe, The Last Adam: A Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels 3. Christoph Heilig, God and the Faithfulness of Paul 4. Timothy E. Miller, The Triune God of Unity in Diversity: An Analysis of Perspectivalism, the Trinitarian Theological Method of John Frame and Vern Poythress. 5. Jonathan T. Pennington, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing 6. N. T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God COURSE GRADING SCALE 1. Outlines 25% 2. Digest 25% 3. Midterm 25% 4. Final 25% All outlines, digests, and exam must be completed on time. Exceptions will be made according to the discretion of the instructor. The exams are based on the lectures and readings. Recording of lectures is prohibited. Students are allowed to use laptops but cannot have any other program open other than Microsoft Word (or a comparable program). Any violation will result in the forfeiture of the right to use a laptop. 2 P a g e

3 COURSE SCHEDULE 1. Orientation & Introduction (August 28) a. Review of Syllabus b. Intro: Paul, the Apostle, Missionary, Pastor c. Complete Paul Jeon, Introducing Romans. 2. The Center of Paul s Theology (September 11) a. The Center of Paul s Theology b. Contemporary Issues in Pauline Studies: A Review of the New Perspective c. Interpreting Paul: Basic Considerations d. Complete Cornelis P. Venema, Getting the Gospel Right; Thessalonians (September 18) a. Read 1-2 Thessalonians b. Outline 1 Thessalonians 1 c. Complete Paul Jeon, Living Intentionally before God. 4. Galatians (September 25) a. Galatians b. Read Galatians c. Outline Galatians 2 d. Complete Stephen Westerholm, Perspectives Old and New on Paul Corinthians (October 2) a. 1 Corinthians b. Read 1 Corinthians c. Outline 1 Corinthians 1 Reading Week (October 9-13) 6. Philippians (October 16) a. Philippians b. Read Philippians c. Outline Philippians 2 d. Complete Paul Jeon, Empowered by Joy 7. 2 Corinthians (October 23) a. Read 2 Corinthians b. Outline 2 Corinthians 2 c. Begin work on Digest on Ridderbos or Vos 8. Colossians & Philemon (November 6) a. Read Colossians & Philemon b. Outline Colossians 3 9. Ephesians (November 13) a. Read Ephesians b. Outline Ephesians Timothy (November 20) Midterm on October 30 3 P a g e

4 a. Read 1 Timothy b. Outline 1 Timothy 3 c. Submit Digest 11. Titus (November 27) a. Read Titus b. Outline Titus 2 c. Complete Paul Jeon, True Faith; To Exhort and Reprove, chs. 1, 2, Timothy (December 4) a. Read 2 Timothy b. Outline 2 Timothy Final Exam (December 11) 4 P a g e

5 SAMPLE OUTLINE Paul s Thanksgiving for the Colossians and Motivations for Ministry (Colossians 1:1-29) 1:1-2 Introduction 1:1 Senders: Paul an apostle and Timothy a brother 1:2a Recipients: Saints at Colossae 1:2b Greetings: Grace and peace 1:3-6a Paul s Thanksgiving 1:3 Always thanking God in prayer for the Colossians 1:4-5a Reasons for thanks 1:4a Faith in Christ 1:4b Love for all saints 1:5a Hope of heaven 1:5b-6a Gospel came to Colossians and is spreading globally 1:6b-8 Epaphras role 1:6b-7a Transmitted gospel 1:7b-8 Faithful minister for Colossians sake 1:9-12 Paul s Intercessory Prayer 1:9 Know God s will with wisdom and understanding 1:10a Live in a way pleasing to God 1:10b Bear fruit in every good work 1:10c Increase in knowledge 1:11 Be strengthened with power 1:12 Give thanks to God 1:13-14 Union with Christ 1:13 Transferred from darkness to Christ s kingdom 1:14 Redemption and forgiveness in Christ 1:15-20 Christ-Hymn 1:15-17 Christ the Agent of Creation 1:15 Christ = firstborn of all creation 1:16 All things created through Christ 1:17 All things sustained through Christ 1:18-20 Christ the Agent of Redemption 1:18 Christ = head of the body, the church 1:19 Fullness of God dwells in Christ 1:20 Reconciliation found in Christ s blood 1:21-23 Colossians Transformation 1:21 Past: Alienated evildoers 1:22a Present: Reconciled by Christ s death 1:22b Purpose: Be holy and blameless 1:23 Condition: Continuation in the faith and Paul s gospel 1:24-29 Paul s Ministry Motivations 1:24 Rejoice in sufferings for sake of the church 1:25-26 Paul is minister and steward of the gospel and church 1:27 God reveals Christ among Gentiles to mature them 1:28-29 Paul labors in preaching so that all may be mature in Christ 5 P a g e

6 SAMPLE DIGEST Chapter 11: The Upbuilding of the Church I. Two Principal Aspects A. Two Principal Aspects: R-H & Christological Perspectives 1. Intro. The church also belongs to the central content of Paul s teaching. From a R-H point of view it has a fixed place in that work. It does not first come into view as a gathering of individual believers who have come to participate in the gift of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Rather, it has an a priori significance, namely, as the people that in his saving activity God has placed on his side and which he intends to be the exemplification of his grace and redemption. 2. Two Points of View: a. The church is the continuation and fulfillment of the historical people of God that in Abraham God chose to himself from all peoples and to which he bound himself by making the covenant and the promises. b. He gives his own form of expression to the real being and character of the church when he speaks of it as the body of Christ. 3. Both ways of viewing the church are indissolubly connected to each other, and together they constitute a unity. In the first the R-H aspect of the church predominates, and in the second the Christological. In both, however, the salvation given in Christ bears a corporate character, and is given and received only in the fellowship of the people chosen and called by God to himself and of the one body of Christ. B. Ekklesia 1. Through the early Christian use of ekklesia it may be taken as established that the Christian church is thereby ascribed the title of the Old Testament people of God. 2. If the concept of the ekklesia tou Theou has above all a R-H content and speaks of the church as the true people of God, the manifestation of the Messianic congregation of the great future, then it is clear that for Paul, not only in Ephesians and Colossians but in all his preaching, the thought of the universal church is primary and the local church, the house-church, and the church gathering can be denoted as ekklesia because the universal ekklesia is revealed and represented in them. 6 P a g e